Page 9 of Relentless
She debated for a half second whether to leave it there or climb out of bed to retrieve it. She’d told Ethan to call her, though, and it wouldn’t do any good if she didn’t have her phone. With a sigh, she threw the covers off and swung her feet over the side, her soles hitting the cool hardwood floor. Quietly, she jogged downstairs to where her bag hung off the back of a dining table chair. Snagging the device from the side pocket, she tapped the screen as she started back up. She hadn’t expected any messages this late at night, and Scarlett’s name on the display came as a surprise.
Waiting to appease her curiosity, she made her way to her room and crawled back into bed. When she was cuddled under the blankets, with the sliding door open and the cool breeze caressing her face, she plugged her phone in and unlocked the screen.
Scarlett:Call me when you get a chance
The message was time stamped less than an hour ago. She hesitated, then responded. If Scarlett was asleep, her phone should be set to silent.
Kara:Everything okay?
She waited for a reply. And waited. When five minutes passed, and none came—not even bubbles—she set her phone down and turned out the light. From where she lay in bed, she could see the lake glowing in the summer moonlight. Tall pines swayed in a gentle breeze, and somewhere off in the distance, a coyote called to its pack.
She inhaled and closed her eyes, letting the peace of Mystery Lake settle inside her. Whatever Scarlett wanted to tell her couldn’t be important or she would have called and left a message. Or texted a second time.
At least that’s what Kara told herself as she drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Kara woke to the blinding light of the sun shining straight onto her face. She scrunched her eyes closed and pulled the pillow over her head. Only it didn’t help. Because once she was awake, she almost never fell back asleep. She tried to convince herself that maybe this time could be different. But when fifteen minutes passed and her mind spun faster and faster with each passing second, she gave up. With a sigh, she tossed her pillow to the side, rolled onto her back, and stretched her body, arching like a bow.
Sofia’s house was on a dirt road with only three other homes in the area, one of which was currently abandoned. The lake ran along the other side of her property. The location was nearly devoid of all human noise, and Kara remained nestled under the covers for a good long while listening to the sounds of nature.
She considered getting up and going for a run, or maybe a swim, but ixnayed that idea when she remembered that she had two months all to herself. Well, mostly to herself. Ethan was downstairs and would need her help. But she didn’t have a job, nor did she have any plans for the day. Having a leisurely morning in bed was a luxury she could indulge in.
With a smile, she reached for her phone and unplugged it. The “to be read” list on her reading app was long enough to be embarrassing. Maybe she’d make some coffee, then come back up to bed and spend the next few hours reading. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done something like that.
She was about to set the device down and head to the kitchen when it buzzed in her hand. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she noted it was just after six. Her breath caught. The only reason someone would call at this time of the morning was if something was wrong. Or if they were in a different time zone and screwed up the calculations. She didn’t know anyone currently out of the country, so that left her with the former option.
She forced her eyes to the screen and let out a little sigh of relief when she didn’t see her sister’s name. Seeing Scarlett’s made her uneasy, but Sabina’s would have sent her into a mild panic.
“Scarlett,” Kara answered.
“Hi, darling. So sorry to call this early, but I wanted to catch you before my flight,” she said.
“Everything all right?” Even as she asked the question, she knew it wasn’t.
Not one to waste words, Scarlett dived right in. “I was going through the prep materials for the Honduras assignment yesterday and didn’t see Shelley White’s name on the team list. I talked to her ten days ago, and she said she’d been assigned to the same group.”
“Maybe she changed her mind?” Kara suggested.
“That’s what I thought,” Scarlett said. “Then I started to wonder if maybe something happened that made her withdraw. I knew her mom was sick, so thought it might be that.”
Dread began crawling up Kara’s spine. “It wasn’t, was it?”
Scarlett hesitated. “No, it wasn’t. I called her, wanting to check in. Her brother answered the phone. Shelley had a heart attack five days ago and died.”
A wave of numbness washed over Kara. Shelley was only thirty-five, two years younger than her. She’d been part of Kara’s team on several assignments, including her most recent. As good-natured as she was practical, she’d always been one of Kara’s favorite nurses to work with.
“What happened?” she managed to ask, still in shock.
“They don’t know for certain. But they think she was stung by a scorpion and that induced it. Her brother stopped by to see her and found her unresponsive in bed. She’d been dead for more than a day.”
Kara’s heart went out to the man she’d never met. Shelley and her family were close. To be the one to discover her body must have been awful for him. Having been the one to discover her own mother’s body after her murder, she knew more than most what he was likely going through.
“They must have done an autopsy to know her cause of death. Did they find anything else?” she asked. The question sounded mechanical, even to her own ears.
“I didn’t ask. I didn’t think I should, even though I wanted to. I did ask him to let me know about any arrangements they might make for a funeral or service. I won’t be able to go since I leave in a few hours, but I wanted to send flowers or something.” Shelley had lived in Houston; Kara wouldn’t be able to attend, either. But she’d do the same as Scarlett.
The line remained silent then Scarlett spoke again. “We both know how quickly life can change. But I admit, this one caught me off guard. I never would have suspected.”
